SANDY & IRENE

2,531: Calls to the state Department of Banking and Insurance from consumers affected by Sandy. 570: Calls from consumers affected by Irene. 1,250: Formal requests for assistance made by consumers affected by Sandy. 498: Formal requests made by consumers affected by Irene. Source: State Department of Banking and Insurance

More

ADVERTISEMENT

UNION BEACH — In calling on the Federal Emergency Management Agency to hop to it and resolve flood insurance claims, Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday shed light on what is emerging as the deciding factor for whether home and business owners will rebuild at the Shore:

Is there enough money to go around?

“People need to know how much money they’re going to have from their flood insurance to be able to rebuild and repair their homes,” Christie said during a news conference here. “We need to know how much you’re going to have from flood insurance so we can give you an appropriately sized grant to try to help bridge that gap.”

Christie’s main reason for the conference was to come down hard on the National Flood Insurance Program and to tighten the time insurers have to respond to consumer complaints. Watch video from the conference above to learn what Christie thinks of the program. Using our mobile app? Watch the video here.

Yet he also drew attention to a bigger issue. More than three months after Sandy, thousands of home and business owners on the Shore remain in limbo, unsure how they will piece together enough money to either rebuild at heights above newly designated flood levels or afford what are sure to be costly premiums for flood insurance.

It has working-class property owners concerned that only the deep-pocketed can afford to rebuild close to the water.

“How long can people hold on?” asked Ken Harber, who owns Water Witch Coffee and Tea Co. in Highlands, which was flooded. He hopes to reopen April 1. “Maybe only multimillionaires will be able to live at the beach.”

Christie on Tuesday took aim at the National Flood Insurance Program. A month after receiving $9.7 billion from Congress, the program has resolved just 30 percent of Sandy-related flood claims. By comparison, 85 percent of Sandy claims from consumers’ homeowners policies have been resolved, he said.

(Page 2 of 2)

Christie said the program was a disgrace, unacceptable and stunk.

FEMA spokesman Chris McKniff said the agency has received 71,000 claims from New Jersey alone. All told, Sandy’s damage resulted in the second-highest number of claims from a disaster, trailing only 2005’s Hurricane Katrina.

“We’re working as expeditiously as possible,” he said. “We’re here to support the state of New Jersey and anything we can do to help the recovery.”

Christie said state-regulated insurance companies now must respond to complaints filed by consumers with the Department of Banking and Insurance within five business days.

Even with insurance proceeds in their pocket, homeowners still may fall short of what they need to raise their home to levels the government and insurers consider safe.

Assemblyman Declan J. O’Scanlon Jr., R-Monmouth, said after the news conference that lawmakers are working on two programs funded by federal aid that would provide residents with grants to raise their homes.

The timeframe wasn’t clear. One, a block grant through the Department of Housing and Urban Development, could be ready in a matter of weeks. The other, Hazard and Mitigation Grants through FEMA, may take longer, O’Scanlon said.

“People shouldn’t despair at this point,” O’Scanlon said. He urged home and business owners to apply through FEMA and Small Business Administration, even if it is just to ensure they will be eligible for future aid.

For now, many property owners appear to have no good options. They can try to cobble together the money they need to elevate their homes above the flood danger zone. Or they can pay exorbitant premiums for flood insurance.

“One way or another, living where we live, in the time we live in is going to be more costly,” Christie said. “The question is, how do you want to handle it?”